Over the last three seasons, Jalen Brunson has been a steady source of scoring and playmaking for the guards in the NBA. The league has acknowledged that once again, and the Knicks came up with the ideal reply.
Brunson was a major factor in the Knicks finishing with a 53-29 record, scoring 26 points, dishing out 6.8 assists, and grabbing 3.3 rebounds per game in 74 games. That level of consistency, year in and year out, is what keeps his name on those lists.
Jalen Brunson Named All-NBA Second Team for Third Straight Season
GettyKnicks Send Strong Message After Jalen Brunson’s Latest NBA Honor
The New York Knicks posted on X to celebrate Brunson’s latest honor, keeping it short and sweet: “Congrats, Cap!” The team shared a graphic of Brunson in his No. 11 jersey alongside the words “Second Team All-NBA,” confirming what most Knicks fans already believed.
Congrats, Cap!
Brunson has now made the All-NBA Second Team in three consecutive seasons, joining Donovan Mitchell, Jaylen Brown, Kawhi Leonard, and Kevin Durant on this year’s second team.
The voting was tight, though. He finished as the last player selected, receiving 49 second-team votes and 50 third-team votes, with one voter leaving him off the ballot entirely.
That margin makes the First Team conversation hard to ignore. The five players ahead of him were Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Cade Cunningham, Luka Doncic, Victor Wembanyama, and Nikola Jokic.
All five finished in the top five of MVP voting, which is what separated them from Brunson in the ballots. The numbers Brunson put up this season were strong by any measure, but the voters clearly felt the gap between him and that group was real. It is a debate that does not have a clean answer either way.
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GettyJalen Brunson Just Changed the Conversation Around the Knicks
Whatever the voters ended up deciding, Brunson has been relentlessly pitching his argument on the very court where it counts the most. In three games against Cleveland in the Eastern Conference finals, he is averaging 29 points and 8.7 assists per game.
He put up 38 points during a historical comeback victory in Game 1, 14 assists, which is his playoff career high in Game 2, and 30 points in Game 3, which gave New York a 3-0 lead in the series.
The Knicks have now won 10 straight playoff victories, and Brunson has driven the whole team towards it.
Three straight All-NBA teams, two Eastern Conference Finals appearances in a row, and now just one game away from the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.
Whether he is or is not worthy of the First Team, the list of achievements almost writes itself.
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